MALAWI: UDF becomes majority party

Photo: IRIN

UDF has grown in strength since the May polls

JOHANNESBURG, 1 July 2004 (IRIN) - At least 26 independent members of parliament have joined the ruling United Democratic Front (UDF), making it Malawi's majority party. UDF spokesperson Ken Lipenga told IRIN that 23 independent MPs had joined the UDF on Wednesday, while "at least another three" crossed the floor on Thursday. According to Lipenga, the UDF, with a total of 75 seats, replaced the Malawi Congress Party (MCP), which held 59 seats, as the majority party in parliament. Malawi's civil society has already expressed concern over the country's waning opposition, after the UDF merged with the opposition National Democratic Alliance (NDA), the Republican Party (RP) and the Movement for Genuine Democratic Change (Mgode) . Reacting to reports of independents defecting to the UDF, Collins Magalasi, national coordinator of the Malawi Economic Justice Network, a coalition of NGOs, lamented that "politicians are taking voters for granted. Clearly, the Malawians who had voted for the independents did not favour aligning themselves with any of the political parties." Lipenga argued that a process of consolidation was occurring in a country noted for the weakness of its party system. "I think this [merging] is a sign of political maturity - the development of a two-party state, as in major democracies like the US and the United Kingdom." In acquiring berths in the new government, the RP and Mgode withdrew a legal petition challenging the results of the controversial 20 May presidential poll, won by the UDF's Bingu wa Mutharika.